Exclusions: More Ways To Get Low-Scoring Kids Off The Books

Cool ways to juke the stats are coming out of the Land of Lincoln.  First the Chicago Tribune's Stephanie Banchero revealed that schools were keeping low-scoring / credit deficient juniors out of the 11th grade testing pool by classifying them as super sophomores (Case of the missing juniors).  Not that the low-scorers are being kept away from other trappings of being a junior (Forget the tests. What about the junior prom?).  That way, everybody's happy.  

Then, just this week it's come to light that some schools have been applying for -- and getting -- waivers from the state board of education to exceed the 1 percent cap on alternative assessments for SPED kids, which is supposed to be only for the most severely impaired (Not Testing Some Kids Makes Schools Look Better). Kids score higher on the alternative assessment than they do on the regular one, so it's a surefire score-booster.